Musical instrument or toy organ



MUSICAL INSTRUMENT OR TOY ORGAN Filed July 20, 1955 Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to musical instruments or more particularly to toy organs in which the playing of a tune is accompanied by the cooperation of a crank operated cam member with a plurality of vibratory tongues or reeds.

As hitherto constructed the vibratory reeds and the cam member are positioned in the same plane and the former, therefore, must be initially curved beyond the plane to permit the passage of the revolving cam as the latter is revolved to actuate said tongues or reeds.

Such construction has been found to be objectionable for various reasons. First, apart from the fact that the curving of the tongues requires a separate step in the manufacture of the instrument, thereby adding to the expense thereof, great accuracy is required in the curving of the individual reeds so as to produce the desired tone. Moreover, the tongues being generally thin filaments or strips of metal they are easily bent out of shape and liable to get into the path of the cam carrying member thereby becoming damaged and ruining the instrument. Repairs are impossible with such toy instruments as the casing cannot be opened without putting it out of shape.

It is therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide a construction whereby these objections can be easily obviated, the manufacture of the instrument simplified, and the toy rendered 30 more durable.

With this and other objects in view my invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and in which similar reference characters denote corresponding parts:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the musical instrument or toy organ, the casing being partly broken out to show the operating parts therein;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section along line 22 of Fig. 1 through the operating parts; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the operating parts of the toy.

The toy instrument or organ, as usual, comprises a box or casing I0 of cylindrical or other shape made of sheet metal or other suitable material. Near the top of said casing there is fixed therein an apertured plate or disk H serving as support for the reed board which consists of a circular disk I2 suitably fixed thereto as at II a. This disk I2 is provided centrally with a depression or cavity I2a on its outer face and a central opening I 22) for the passage of a pin shaft I3 suitably borne in the top Illa of the casing and formed on its outer end with a crank handle I3a. The disk I2 is also provided with a plurality of radially extending recesses or slits I2c which terminate in the bottom of the cavity l2a. Fixed to the outer surface of the disk I2 at their outer ends, as at Ma, are flat resilient strips I4 of metal, as brass, constituting the vibratory tongues or reeds. These reeds extend longitudinally over the radial slits I and project into the cavity I2a a short distance beyond the marginal edge of the latter. Mounted on the shaft I3 to revolve with the latter is a cam member I5. This member consists of a substantially U-shaped flat body portion of metal whose opposite tails are curved downwardly and laterally to form the cams I5a adapted to set the reeds in sonorous vibrations, in well known manner. The body portion of this cam member I5 in thickness is somewhat smaller than the depth of the cavity I 211, so that its outer face will be offset from the plane of the inner faces of the reeds or tongues, and said member can, therefore, freely pass the latter when ro tated, and will only engage the individual reeds successively with its cams I So to produce the sonorous vibrations.

The body portion of said cam member I5 may be held in its position within the cavity I 2a by a coil spring I6 mounted around the shaft I3 between said cam member I5 and a washer I! mounted on said shaft.

The reeds will not be liable to ever being bent out of shape and obstruct the movement of the cam member I5, as they overlap the outer face of the body portion of the cam member.

What I claim is:

1. In a musical instrument or toy organ, a stationary reed board or disk formed with a central cavity and a number of radial slits terminating in said cavity, fiat resilient reeds fixed at their outer ends to said disk to extend longitudinally over said slits and over the marginal edge of said cavity, a rotatable member borne centrally in said cavity so as to pass freely under the free ends of said reeds and having cam portions projecting beyond the plane of the latter and adapted to actuate the same and produce sonorous vibrations thereof.

2. In a musical instrument or toy organ, the combination with a casing, of a support therein formed with a central groove or cavity and a plurality of radial slits terminating in the latter, a plurality of flat resilient reeds or tongues fixed to said support and extending longitudinally over said slits and beyond the marginal edge of said cavity and a rotatable cam member borne in said cavity and the outer face of whose body portion is ofiset from the plane of said reeds, lying beneath the marginally projecting portions thereof, so that said member when rotated will freely pass underneath said reeds and only engage them with its cam portions to set said reeds in sonorous vibrations.

3. In a. musical instrument or toy organ, a casing having an apertured partition intermediate its ends, a radially slitted reed board fixed to said partition and formed centrally with a cavity or depression, a manually operable shaft borne in said casing and extending centrally through said cavity, resilient tongues or reeds fixed to said disk at one end and extending longitudinally over the radial slits and into said cavity beyond the marginal edge thereof and a U-shaped cam member on said shaft whose legs serve as cam portions, the outer face of the body portion of said cam member being oifset from the inner faces of said reeds lying in said cavity beneath the marginally projecting portions thereof and the cam portions of said member projecting through the plane of said reeds and serving to actuate said reeds successively as the said cam member is being rotated.

4. In a toy organ, a reed board formed with a central cavity and radial slits terminating therein, a plurality of straight, resilient reeds fixed to said board and extending longitudinally of said radial slits and over the marginal edge of said cavity, and a cam member rotatively mounted in said cavity and Whose body portion is offset from the plane of said reeds lying beneath the marginally projecting portions thereof to pass under the latter freely and engage said reeds only with its cam portions.

WM. KRATT. 

